Claressa Shields: podcast appearances and interviews

Claressa Maria Shields, born on March 17, 1995, is an American professional boxer and former professional mixed martial artist. She has held 18 major world championships across five weight classes, including the undisputed female light middleweight title in March 2021 and the undisputed female middleweight title twice between 2019 and 2024. Shields has also held the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation female super middleweight titles from 2017 to 2018, the World Boxing Organization female light heavyweight title from 2024 to 2025, and the undisputed female heavyweight title since February 2025. She is recognized for becoming a world champion in multiple divisions in the fewest professional fights and is the only female boxer in history to have held all four major world titles in three weight classes. Additionally, she is the third female boxer after Amanda Serrano and Naoko Fujioka to attain championship status in five different divisions. Shields has received numerous accolades, including the Boxing Writers Association of America Female Fighter of the Year award in 2018 and 2022, and ESPN ranked her as the best female boxer of the 21st century in July 2024. Her amateur career was distinguished by winning gold medals in the women's middleweight division at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, making her the first American boxer to win consecutive Olympic medals and the first American woman to win Olympic gold in boxing. She was the youngest boxer at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and has also competed professionally in mixed martial arts with the Professional Fighters League.